Rule Favoring Native Descent Faces Appeal

A white student will be allowed to remain enrolled at the Kamehameha
Schools, under a settlement of one of two legal challenges to the
heavily endowed private institution's native-Hawaiians-only admissions
policy.

Meanwhile, an appeal is planned in the other case, which a federal
judge decided in the schools' favor.

The 6,000-student, pre-K-12 schools—spread across three
campuses in Hawaii—were founded in 1887, before Hawaii became a
U.S. territory, through the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Her
great-grandfather, Kamehameha I, had united the Hawaiian islands.

Concerned about the rising number of foreigners in positions of
power in the islands and the sharp decline in the native population,
the princess specified in her will that the schools were to give
"preference to Hawaiians of pure or part aboriginal blood."

The two lawsuits challenged the validity of the schools' admissions
guidelines under the Civil Rights Act of 1866, a Reconstruction-era
statute that bars race discrimination in private contracts, which would
include enrollment in private schools.

The suit that is headed for an appeal, Doe v. Kamehameha
Schools, was filed in a federal court last June, two days after the
U.S. Supreme Court ruled on two affirmative action cases involving
admissions policies at University of Michigan and its law school.
("Justices Give K-12
Go-Ahead to Promote Diversity," July 9, 2003.)

The high court ruled that the undergraduate policy, which allotted
points for applicants' various characteristics, including race, was
unconstitutional. The law school case, Grutter v.
Bollinger, was decided in favor of the school, conveying the
court's opinion that race-conscious admissions policies were acceptable
in higher education, provided they involved individualized reviews of
applicants.

Experts say that although the Michigan cases provide an interesting
backdrop to the Kamehameha lawsuits, the Hawaii suits involve different
circumstances, and that Grutter v. Bollinger should not
influence the Doe case.

Remedy for Past Wrongs

The challenge to Kamehameha's admissions policy involved an
unidentified minor, John Doe, who was turned away from the school in
August 2002 and again last August because of his lack of Hawaiian
lineage. On Nov. 17, Senior U.S. District Judge Alan C. Kay, of
Honolulu, upheld the institution's admissions policy, citing several
justifications for it.

First, Judge Kay noted, Kamehameha is a private institution and
receives no federal funding. Second, the schools' preferential
admissions policy was designed to remedy the disadvantaged situation of
native Hawaiians, he found. And he pointed out that the policy
envisions that the schools will open up admissions to non-native
Hawaiians when native Hawaiians' need for education no longer exceeds
the schools' capacity.

Eric Grant, who represents students in both cases, has vowed to
appeal Judge Kay's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th
Circuit, in San Francisco.

"I think the crucial aspect of Judge Kay's decision is that what he
has approved is segregation in our schools," Mr. Grant said. "And I
think that is an unfortunate return to a policy that the courts
overturned decades ago."

The case that has yielded a settlement, Mohica-Cummings v.
Kamehameha Schools, which was filed Aug. 18, involves Brayden
Mohica-Cummings, an applicant from Kapaa, on the island of Kauai.

Brayden, a 7th grader, was accepted to Kamehameha, but his admission
was rescinded because he is not related by blood to his maternal
grandfather—listed on his application as his link to Hawaiian
ancestry.

The terms of the settlement allow the boy, who has been attending
the school's Kapalama campus since August under a court order, to
attend Kamehameha through high school graduation, provided he remains
"a student in good standing," according to the schools' Web site.

U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra, of Honolulu, approved the
settlement Dec. 4. It is now headed for a Hawaii probate court for
approval because the student is a minor.

Both sides in the case said they were pleased with the
settlement.

"This means that this particular threat to our Hawaiian-preference
admissions policy is eliminated," says a statement on the schools' Web
site. "By settling this case, we believe we simplify the issues and
improve our chances of winning [the Doe case] on appeal."

Vol. 23, Issue 16, Page 6

Published in Print: January 7, 2004, as Rule Favoring Native Descent Faces Appeal

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